Rotary cutter

ABSTRACT

A rotary cutter for the printing industry in which a paper cutting knife is carried in a holder mounted on the outer cylindrical surface of a roller. The roller is constructed with a plurality of axially spaced apart annular grooves to receive the knife mount roll attaching means in any of an infinite number of desired positions around the full circumference of the roller. When more than one knife is carried on the roller they may be set relative to one another with any desired spacing.

United States Patent 91 Gregoire Dec. 31,1974

[541 ROTARY CUTTER [76] Inventor: Clyde G. Gregoire, 4N194 Brier Ln,

Bensenville, 111. 60106 [22] Filed: July 13, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 378,956

[52] U.S. Cl 83/346, 83/674, 83/698, 83/699 [51] Int. Cl ..'B23d 25/12 [58] Field of Search 83/674, 673, 677, 346, 83/347, 699, 700, 698

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,034,161 3/1936 Thiel 83/674 2,181,197 11/1939 Moritz 83/6'74 X 2,829,689 4/1958 Jarvis 83/346 X 2,829,695 4/1958 Jarvis 83/346 X Primary Examiner.l. M. Meister I Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Kenneth T. Snow [5 7] ABSTRACT A rotary cutter for the printing industry in which a paper cutting knife is carried in a holder mounted on the outer cylindrical surface of a roller. The roller is constructed with a plurality of axially spaced apart annular grooves to receive the knife mount roll attaching means in any of an infinite number of desired posi- I tions around the full circumference of the roller. When more than one knife is carried on the rollerthey may be set relative to one another with any desired spacing.

4 Claims, 13 Drawing Figures PATENTED DEC3 1 1974 SHEET 2 OF 3 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention Rotary cutters have been used by the printing industry for many years. The cutting of strips or webs of paper by printers is becoming more commonplace. This is especially ture as the printing of small booklets is more fully automated. In the past, book or booklet printing was made by imprinting multiple pages on large sheets of paper whereafter the sheets were delivered to a binder who had to cut up the sheets and then bind the pages in book form. When the book was bound a cutter or shear was employed to trim the edges of the pages so they were even. Now, with web printing and concurrent folding and cutting of the web simultaneously with the printing, multiple page books need no longer be separately bound.

However, accurate cutting of the web sheets is an important factor in such book making operations. Cooperative rollers are employed to accomplish cutting of the paper. One roller carries a cutting knife while the other roller constitutes an anvil roller. The radial adjustment of the knife is critical as it must just meet the surface of the preferably steel anvil roller to uniformly cut through a single sheet or multiple sheets of paper without digging into the anvil roller.

Many roller mounts have been tried and most have been found wanting. This is especially true when two or more knives have been mounted on the same roller to cut several pages in succession with but one revolution of the knife holding roller. Previous devices invariably produced different lengths of pages and the resultant book was sl'oppy" looking when compared to the bindery sheared book pages.

The present invention is concerned with a knife mount for rollers and particularly a mount which may be accurately set and held in any desired position around the full circumference of the roller. Also, in the past unusually complex rolls were necessary to receive these knife mounts usually the rollers were equipped with cut-out portions and the knife mount recessed below the rollers cylindrical surface. In such constructions only the knife would project over the cylindrical surface of the roller a slight amount. Applicants present device contemplates the positioning of the mount directly onto the outer cylindrical surface so the mount may be placed and locked in infinitely variable positions on the carrying roller. Also, if two or more knives are mounted on the roller they can be accurately spaced apart any desired distance. This results in booklets or uniform pages without any after shearing.

2. Description of the Prior Art A search of the prior art in the field of this invention has produced the following defined issued patents.

The very old patent to Deely US. Pat. No. 797,886 discloses a machine for cutting scrap metal by using two cooperative rolls. One of the two rollers carries knives within longitudinally disposed dovetailed slots in the outer surface of the roll. The knives are slid endwise into the slots and then locked therein by end stops. The knives are held beneath the outer surface of the roll and only their cutting edges extend radially outwardly of that outer surface.

The patent to Streine US. Pat. No. 1,931,362 shows a non-round roller and provides for the attachment of diametrically opposed knives thereon. The knives of Streine may not be infinitely adjusted around the full circumference of the roller.

The patent to Lane US. Pat. No. 2,660,242 discloses a roller with cutout portions to receive a knife and a back-up or holderall within the confines of the roller except for the cutting edge of the knife. This patented within undercut slots in the surface of one of the tworollers.

The patent to Trogan et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,709,077 shows a paper cut-off mechanism in the same general field as applicants device. The Trogan et al. knife members are carried beneath the surface of the roller Within specially constructed openings.

All of the prior art patents are lacking in a disclosure of a knife mount on the outer cylindrical surface of a roller comparable to applicants device as set forth herein.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A principal object of the present invention is to provide a novel rotary cutter for use in the printingindustry.

An important object of this invention vis the provision of novel cooperative web cutting rollers for use in printing machines for the accurate cutting of the web into pages in the process of making multiple page booklet which requires no subsequent shearing.

Another important object of this invention is to provide a device of the preceding object in which one of the cooperative rollers carries a knife mount on the outer cylindrical surface thereof.

Still another important object of this invention is to provide a novel knife mount roller attaching means which permits infinite adjustability of the knife mount around the full circumference of the cylindrical roller.

Another and still further important object of this invention is the provision of novel means for the accurate radial height adjustment of a knife along its full length.

IN THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a section of a printing machine which includes the cooperative paper cutting rollers of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the cooperative paper cutting rollers of FIG. 1 and showing the details of the U-shaped knife holding mechanism on one of the rollers and as taken on the line 22 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 33 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a transverse sectional view of cooperative knife holding and anvil rollers similar to that of FIG. 2 but with a modified L-shaped knife holding mechanism.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the knife as used in the device of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a transverse sectional view of cooperative paper cutting rollers similar to that of FIG. 2 but with a modified block shaped knife holding mechanism.

FIG. 9 is another modified knife holding mechanism shown in transversesection similar to that shown in FIG. 2 but having different roll attaching means.

FIG. 10 is a detail transverse sectional view of a still further modified form of knife holding device which engages the outer convex surface of a knife holding roller at and by spaced apart raised members on the underside of the knife holder. 1

FIG. 11 is another transverse sectional view of a knife holding device comparable to that shown in FIG. 10 but with separable roller-like elements used as the spaced apart raised members.

FIG. 12 is still another detail transverse sectional view taken through cooperative paper cutting rollers and with the roller slot being T-shaped.

FIG. 13 is another view similar to FIG. 12 and with the roller slot being L-shaped.

AS SHOWN IN THE DRAWINGS Thereference numeral indicates generally asection of a printing press. The press section includes vertically disposed spaced apart parallel end walls 21 and 22. The end walls journally support a transversely disposed knife holding roller 23 and a cooperative transversely disposed anvil roller 24. The printing press section shown includes other elements but they will not be described as they do not form an integral part of the present invention. Here the inventive development is directed to the cooperative rollers 23 and 24, their construction, and particularly the means of adjustably mounting a knife or knives on the knife holding roller so that in cooperation with the anvil roller it will accu rately cut a web of paper passing therebetween.

The knife holding roller 23 is provided with a plurality of circularly disposed slots 25 spaced generally uniformly at intervals along the roller in the direction of the axis of rotation of that roller. The slots are shown in most all of the drawing figures, but is is believed they are best depicted in FIGS. 1, 2, 4 and 5. FIG. 1 shows also an elongated knife holding device 26 mounted on the curved outside of the roller and spanning the plurality of circular slots 25. The holding member. 26 is generally U-shape in cross section having spaced apart radially extending legs 27 and 28 and a base 29 joining the spaced legs. The base 29 is provided with a smooth continuous concave undersurface 30 which is of the same curvature as the roller 23 and thus when the device 26 is placed on the outside of the roller it makes uniform contact over its full undersurface. The employment of a concave undersurface for the knife holding device 26 permits that knife holder to be placed in any position around the full circumference of the cylindrical roller 23. As a rule such rollers are equipped to receive a knife holder in only specific locations. Here the construction of the roller with full circumferential slots and the concave undersurface cooperate to permit infinite positioning of knife holders around the full periphery of the roller and thus exact spacing between multiple knife holding elements.

The knife holding device 26 is fastened to the surface I of the roller by means of bolts and wedging nuts. One bolt 31 passes radially through the leg portion 27 of the U-shaped member 26 and extends into one of the slots 25. A head 32 of the bolt is at the top of the bolt and a cooperative wedging nut 33 threadedly engages the lower end of the bolt. The nut 33 is generally wedge shape as shown in FIG. 3. The spaced apart sides of the nut are inclined or tapered as indicated at 34 and 35. As best shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 the slots25 are undercut to effect a locking of the nut 33 within the slot 25. In this particularv embodiment spaced apart side walls of the slots 25 are inclined as shown at 36 and 37. The degree of inclination of the slots side walls is substantially the same as the inclined side walls of the nuts 33. Thus when the bolt and nut are drawn tightly together the nut wedge locks in the slot 25 and the bolt member 31' is locked in fixed position. A recess 38 in the top side of the U-leg 27 is adapted to receive the enlarged head 32 of the bolt member 31. The knife holding U-member 26 is further fastened to the roller 23 by another bolt member 39 which passes radially through the'spaced apart U-leg 28. An enlargedhead 40 is provided on the upper end of the bolt 39 and is received in a recess 41 in the top sideof the leg 28. A cooperative wedge locking nut 42 having its sides tapered in the manner of the nut 33 is also adapted to be received in the circular slot 25. An enlarged opening 43 is provided in each of the undercut circular slots 25 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 to permit passage or entry of the enlarged nuts 33 and 42 into the slots 25. In attaching the knife holder to the roller 23 any number of the regularly spaced apart slots 25 may be used to effect such attachment.

As best shown in FIG. 2 a knife element 44 is disposed against the inside of the U-leg 28. The knife 44 is arranged in a radial direction and as will later be described coacts with the anvil roller 24 to cut paper or web material passing between the cooperative rollers 23 and 24. A knife holding block or back-up member 45 is shown engaging the knife 44 on the side opposite its engagement with the U-leg 28. A bolt 46 is threadedly engaged with the block 45 and this bolt is utilized to effect a tightening of the knife against the U-leg 28. It is important to note that the knife blade depth is short of contact with the base 29 of the U member'26. With this construction the blade may have sufficient radial adjustment to be accurately set to contact the anvil roller for proper cutting of an intermediately disposed paper. The blade is preferably adjusted for radial extension at a time when the back-up member is just snuggly engaging the blade, but not yet fully tightened. Such tightening is accomplished by putting a wrench on the hexagonally shaped head 47 of the bolt 46 and turning it in a direction to cause the bolt to back out of the block 45. The bolt head 47 is now pushed against the U-leg 27 thereby causing the knife blade 44 to be wedged in fixed adjusted position.

In the operation of the device just described one or more knife holding elements 26 as desired are disposed lengthwise of the roller 23 and laid directly on the outer convex surface of the roller. In this manner the knife holding elements span one or more of the annular undercut grooves 25 in the surface of the roller. The slots 25 provide the means for holding the wedge locking nuts which in turn threadedly cooperate with the bolts passing through the holders 26. The knife holders 26 are thus fastened to the surface of the roller 23 in any desired adjusted position. A wrench (not shown) is used to engage the socket heads 32 and and cause a turning of the bolts 31 and 39 respectively. The nuts 33 and 42 may thus be drawn up tightly in a wedge locking fashion in the undercut slots 25. This wedge locking of the nuts is clearly shown in FIG. 3. Obviously, when the nuts are securely wedged in the slots 25 the knife holding members 26 with their concave undersurfaces are securely locked against the outer convex surface of the roller 23. After the knife holders 26 are set as desired it is then the job of the operator to set the radial extension of the knife blade 44. The blade is preferably extended higher than believed necessary and then the back-up-member 45 is snugged up against the blade to temporarily hold the blade in its extended position. Now, the cooperative rollers 23 and 24 are turned over, preferably by hand, so the knife edge strikes the outer hardened surface of the anvil roller 24. Because the blade is not yet fully tightened it will be forced to move radially inwardly toward the 23 remaining extended only as necessary to strike the surface of the roller 24 along its full length. After this hand turning. the knife blade or bladdes are completely tightened so that on subsequent rotation of the rollers, whether with or without paper therebetween, there is no further movement of the blades relative to their holders 26. Now when a web of paper is passed through the cooperative rollers 23 and 24 it will be uniformly out along its entire length by the one or more knife blades 44.

A modification of the device is shown in FIG. 6. Here the knife holding roller is identified by the numeral 48 and the cooperative anvil roller is identified as 49. An L-shaped knife holding member 50 is mounted on the roller 48 and similarly to the device of FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 5 is the means of carrying a knife blade for engagement with the anvil roller to accurately cut paper running between the rollers 48 and 49. The L-shaped knife holder includes a leg 51 and a base 52. The undersurface of the base 52 of the L is concave as shown at 53 and thus will snuggly engage the outer cylindrical surface of the roller 48. An undercut slot 54 is provided in the surface of the roller 48 and extends circularly around the circumference of the cylindrical roller. This slot 54 is one of many such slots in the roller which correspond to the slots 25 in the roller 23. A wedge shaped locking nut 55 is housed within the slot 54 and cooperates with the undercutting of that slot to effect a locking of the nut in fixed position in the slot. A bolt 56 passes radially through the base 52 of the L-member 50 and its threaded shank cooperatively engages the internally threaded wedge locking nut 55. An enlarged socket head 57 is provided at the top of the bolt 56 and this head is recessed within an opening 58 in the top surface of the L base 52. When the bolt and its cooperative nut are drawn tightly together by rotating the bolt with a wrench engaging the socket in the enlarged head 57 the L-shaped knife holder 50 is locked in position on the surface of the roller 48.

A knife blade 59 is best shown in FIG. 7. The blade distinguishes from the blade of FIG. 2 in that it includes vertically elongated slots 60 at spaced intervals along the knife. The knife 59 is shown abutting the inside of the L-leg 51 in FIG. 6 and it is against this surface that the knife slides in its radial adjustment for cooperation with the anvil roller 59. A back-up block 61 is disposed on the other side of the knife 59. Abolt 62 passes through the block 61, thence through the elongated slots 60 in the knife 59, and then theadedly engages an internally threaded aperture in the L-leg 51. An enlarged socket head 63 is recessed within an aperture 64 in the back-side of the block 61.

The operation of this modified form of the invention as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 is very similar to the operation of the device of FIGS. 2 and 3. When the knife holder 50 is in its desired setting the bolt 56 and its cooperative wedge locking nut 55 are drawn tightly together. This locks the nut in its then present position in the slot 54. and securely holds the L-member 50 in that position on the surface of the roller 48. Now with the transverse bolt 62 only moderately drawn up, the rollers are hand turned to effect an adjusting of the knife 59 in its radial extension. As the knifes cutting'edge strikes the hardened surface of the anvil roller 59 the blade is pushed radially inwardly in the holder 50. Now the bolt 62 is securely tightened and the knife blade remains in fixed position relative to the holder 50 and the roller 48. Of course in this modification the transversely disposed bolt 62 is tightened by threading it into the L-leg 51 to lock the back-upblock 61 against thev knife rather than withdrawing it as in the U-shaped holder of FIG. 2. The modified device is now ready for invorporation in a printing operation and when a paper or web of paper is passed between the rollers 48 and 49 it is accurately out along the full extent of the knife 59.

Another modification of the device of this invention is shown in FIG. 8. A knife holding roller 65 is employed to cooperatively engage an anvil roller 66 in the same manner as for the rollers 23 and 24, and 48 and 49. A block shaped knife holding member 67 is mounted on the surface of the knife holding roller 65. The roller engaging surface of the block is concavely curved as shown at 68 to match the outer convexly curved surface of the roller 65. Thus the block 67 may be mounted in any desired position on the roller 65 in the same manner as the U-shaped knife holder of FIGS. 2 and 3, and the L-shaped knife holder of FIG. 6.

The roller 65 is equipped with a plurality of axially spaced apart annular slots or grooves 69 which are undercut to provide locking means for the knife holders mounted on the surface of the roller. A wedge shaped locking nut 70 is mounted within the undercut slot 69. The nut 70, in turn, cooperates with a bolt 71 which passes radially through the block 67 for the purpose of holding the block in any desired adjusted position on the surface of the roller 64. The bolt 71 is provided with an enlarged head 72 having a wrench engaging socket in the top thereof. The head 72 is preferably recessed within an opening 73 in the top surface of the block 67.

A knife blade 74 is comparable to the knife 59 shown in detail in FIG. 7 and is employed in conjunction with the block 67 to provide the cutting means of this invention. The blade 74 is provided with vertically elongated slots 75 located at spaced intervals along the length of the knife. A back-up strip member 76 abuts one side of the knife 74 while the other side of the knife is disposed against one side of the knife holding block 67. A bolt 77 passes through the strip member 76, thence through the elongated slots 75, and finally threadedly engaged with an enlarged socket head 78 by which the bolt may be conveniently rotated. The bolt head 78 is recessed within an opening 79 in the back-up strip member 76 so the surface of the strip is not cluttered up with projections.

The operation of this further modified form of the invention is again similar to the preceding described forms. However, here the knife holder is block shaped rather than U-shaped or L-shaped The knife holding block 67 is disposed lengthwise of the roller and is adjusted to any position around the full circumference of the cylindrical roller 65. When the adjusted position is reached the bolt 71 and its cooperative nut 70 are threadedly brought closer together to thereupon lock the intermediately disposed holder in its fixed adjusted .position. The knife 74 is initially moved radially outward in the elongated slots and then the bolt 77 is drawn up, but not too tightly. Now, as for the previous forms, the rollers are hand turned and when the knife edge strikes the hardened surface of the anvil roller 66 the knife will move radially inwardly of its holder and remain extended only enough to just meet the surface of the anvil roller. The bolt 77 is'then tightened and the knife is secured in its adjusted position so that in subsequent operation of the printing device, paper or webs passing through or between the rollers will be accurately cut.

FIG. 9 depicts still another modification of the present invention. In this form the knife holder is of the U- shaped type of FIGS. 2 and 3, but here the roller attaching means is slightly different. A knife holding roller 80 is arranged and constructed to cooperate with an anvil roller 81 in the same manner as for the rollers 23 and 24. A U-shaped knife holder 82 has a concave undersurface 83 to provide for the snug engagement of the holder anyplace on the convex .surface of the roller 80 on which it is mounted. The U-member includes spaced apart U-legs 84 and 85 and an adjoining base 86. It is between the U-legs that the knife is adjustably held for the purpose of projecting out and engaging the surface of the anvil roller in the cutting of paper which is passed between the rollers.

The roller 80 is equipped with a plurality of annular slots or grooves 87 in the surface thereof. These are under-cut slots which are spaced apart axially along the roller and are similar to the slots 25 in the device of FIGS. 2 and 3. A wedge locking nut 88 is positioned in the undercut slot 87 and threadedly receives a bolt 89 passing radially through the central base section 86 of the U-member 82. The bolt 89 has an enlarged socket head 90 which is recessed within an opening9l in the top side of the base 86. I

A knife 92 is disposed against the inside of the U-leg 85 and it is along this radial wall that the knife may be slid vertically to effect its adjustment. A back-up member 93 abuts the other side of the knife and acts to hold the knife against the inner wall of the U-leg 85. A bolt 94 threadedly engages the back-up member 93. A hexagonal shaped head 95 is provided at the outer end of the bolt 94. The head 95 provides a means for mount- 1 ing a turning wrench and effecting rotation of the bolt turned, whereupon the blade is levelled out at a position where it just contacts the surface of the anvil roller 81. Now, the knife is fully locked in position by a final unscrewing of the bolt 94.

There is further provided in this modification a means for obtaining micrometer adjustment of the knifes radial extension. This takes the form of a set screw 96 which is radially threaded through the U-leg 85. An enlarged head 97 witha socket therein is disposed within a recess 98 in the top of the leg 85. Let us assume that after the initial setting of the knife 92 there is one area of the paper web where the knife did not cut fully through the paper. To correct this the operator turns downwardly on one or more of the plurality of set screws located closest to the place where the cutting is incomplete. This causes the U-leg to be raised slightly and thereupon simultaneously radially extend the knife 92. In this instance the set screw is positioned in one U-leg to cause a twisting of the U- shaped knife holder 82 about its locking attachment ot the undercut slot 87. However, whether the main attaching bolts pass through the side legs or the center of the knife holder is not important as the'set screw may be arranged any place whatever in the knife holder to provide for the micrometer adjustment of the knife by a slight twisting of the knife holder.

In the operation of the device of this FIG. 9 the same procedures are followed as for the device of FIGS. 2 and 3 with the exception of the roll attaching by only one line of spaced screws 89 in the center of the knife holder and the utilization of set screw means to make those fine adjustments of the knife that occasionally have to be made.

Still another modification of the invention is shown and described in FIG. l0.'A knife holding roller 99 is provided with a U-shaped knife holder-100. Spaced apart U-legs 101 and 102 along with a connecting base 103 combine to form the U-member 100. In this device the undersurface is not equipped with a concave bottom which lies flush with the outer convex surface of the supporting roller 99. Rather, the bottom of the U- member is provided with spaced apart bottom ribs or projections 104 and 105 which are formed integrally with the U-legs 101 and 102 respectively. These projections provide line contacts with the curved outer surface of the roller 99 and thus permit a steady mounting of the knife holder on the .roller.

A series of undercut slots 106 are provided in the roller 99 in the same manner'as the slots 25 as shown in FIG. 4. A wedge nut 107 is mounted in one of the slots 106 and receives the threaded attachment of a-bolt 108. The bolt passes radially through the U-leg 101 and there engages the wedge locking nut 107. The bolt has an enlarged socket head 109 which is disposed in a recess 110 in the top of the U-leg 101. Another wedge locking nut 111 is provided in'the slot 106 in the roller 99 to receive a second bolt 112 which passes radially through the spaced apart U-leg 102. The bolt 112 has an enlarged socket head 113 which engages a recess or notch 114 in the top of the U-leg 102. When the bolts and cooperative nuts are drawn up tightly the U-shaped holder 100 is held in its adjusted position anywhere around the outer surface of the cylindrical roller 99.

A knife 115 is arranged to abuttingly engage the inner radial wall of the U-leg 102. A back-up member 116 provides the backing or support for the other side of the knife 115. A bolt 117 threadedly engages the back-up member 116 and is disposed between the spaced apart U-legs 101 and 102. A hexagonally shaped head 118 is provided on the end of the bolt 117 and provides the means of rotationally turning the bolt for effecting more or less engagement with the back-up member 116.

In the operation of this modified form of the invention as shown in FIG. the same procedures are followed as for the previously disclosed forms. The differences are in the construction of the surface engaging portion of the knife holder. When the bolts 108 and 112 are relatively loose the entire holder is moved around the circumference of the roller to any desired setting. When this position is reached the bolts are tightened and the holder is fixed to the roller. The radial adjustment of the knife 115 is the next step in making the device operational. This is accomplished by hand turning the cooperative rollers while the knife is not fully tight and using the hardened surface of the anvil roller to finally adjust the radial extension of the knife. When this is completed the bolt 117 is backed away from the back-up member 116 causing the several elements to wedge in the space between the spaced apart U-legs 101 and 102 and thereupon securely hold the knife in its radially adjusted position.

A still further modification of the invention is shown in FIG. 11. A knife holding roller 119 is arranged for cooperation with an anvil roller to effect a cutting of a paper or web passing therebetween. A U-shaped knife holder 121 is generally similar to the U-shaped holders of FIGS. 2, 9 and 10, and is arranged and constructed to be mounted on the surface of the roller 119. The U- member 121 includes spaced apart U-legs 122 and 123 and an adjoining base 124. Cylindrical rod members 125 and 126 are disposed on the underside of the U- member 121 adjacent the front and rear edges of the U-member 121 is equipped with spaced apart sockets or concave recesses 127 and 128 to receive the rods 125 and 126 in a nesting fashion. The recesses 127 and 128 are shallow yet they are sufficient to hold the rod members in fixed position relative to the U-member. The rod members correspond to the spaced ribs 104 and 105 of the modified form of the invention as shown in FIG. 10. And. the rod members 125 and 126 perform the same function of permitting the knife holder to be positioned anyplace on the roller 119 and still be stable because of the spaced apart line contacts of the knife holder with the convex surface of the roller.

The roller 119 is provided with a plurality of axially spaced apart, undercut annular slots corresponding to in a recess or opening 132a on the top of the base 124.

A knife 133 is arranged to abut against the inside of the U-leg 123. When the knife is loose it may be radi-.

ening or a loosening of the knife 133 after the knife has been radially adjusted in the same manner as for the other forms of the invention previously described.

FIG. 12 depicts another modification of the invention. However, this modification relates to the shape of the undercut slots in the knife holding roller rather than in the form of the knife holder or the engaging surface of the knife holder with the roller. A knife holding roller 137 cooperates with an anvil roller 138. FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken through these elements and is similarto the section shown in FIG. 3. A knife holder 139 carries a radially disposed knife 140 which is arranged for cutting engagement with the cooperative anvil roller when the knife blade is tangentially disposed with the cylindrical surface of the anvil roller 138. An undercut slot 141 is shown in the roller 137.

This is one of a plurality of such slots and corresponds to the slots 25 of FIG. 5. The undercut slot 141, rather than having radially and inwardly inclined side walls, is T-shaped. A T-bolt 142 has its cross head engaging the T-slot 141 for effecting a fastening of the knife holder to the surface of the roller 137. A nut 143 hexagonally shaped, threadedly engages the shank of the T-bolt 142. Theshank of the bolt passes radially through the knife holder 139 and the nut 143 is disposed within a relatively large recess 144 in the upper surface of the holder 139. The cooperation of the nut 143 and T-bolt act to secure the knife holder to the surface of the roller 137 in any desired setting.

Another modified form of the invention is shown'in FIG. 13 in which there is disclosed a different form of undercut slot in the roller for accommodating the attaching a knife holder. A knife holding roller 145 cooperates with a closely adjacent anvil roller 146. A knife holder 147 is carried by and on the roller 145 and is provided witha radially extending knife 148.

An undercut slot 149 is shown in the roller 145. This is one of a plurality of such slots spaced axially apart along the length of the roller in the manner of the slots around the circumference of the roller and as indicated above are the means cooperating with the knife holder 147 to secure the holder to the surface of the roller. In this modified form of the invention the slot is undercut in an L-sh ape or in effect 3% T-shape. An L-shaped bolt 150 has its base or cross member mounted in the L-shaped slot 149. The shank of the bolt extends outwardly in a radial direction through the knife holder 147. A hexagonally shaped nut 151 threadedly engages the outer end of the bolt 150 and is disposed within a recess 152 in the outer surface of the knife holder 147. Thus, when the nut 151 is drawn up tightly the cross head of the L-bolt is locked in the slot 149 thereupon holding the knife holder in fixed position relative to the outer surface of the roller 145.

.Many modifications of the invention have been shown to emphasize the principles which combine to provide for the accurate and unlimited adjustment of a knife member mounted on one roller and cooperating to cut against an adjacent roller as on an anvil. In all the devices depicted, the knife holders are mounted on the outer surfaces of their carrying rollers. Each roller is equipped with a plurality of undercut slots of various shapes. The slots are circular and extend around the roller. The slots are also spaced apart in a generally uniform manner along the axial length of the roller. These slots provide the means for the infinite positioning of a knife holder any place around the full circumference of the cylindrical roller. Also, they permit a plurality of such knife holdersto be applied to a single roller in any desired relative spacing.

Cooperative bolt and nut means of various forms may be used to secure the knife holder to the roller. A portion of the cooperative bolt and nut means is secured by the undercut slot in the roller and another part passes radially through the knife holder. When these elements are threadedly drawn together the knife holder is locked in a desired adjusted position on the roller.

The undersurfaces of the knife holders have means cooperating with the convex outer surface of the roller to maintain those holders in stable position on the roller. The forms of FIGS. 2, 6, 8, and 9 show concave undersurfaces for mating with the convex rollers on which they are mounted. The forms of'FlGS. l and 11 show spaced projections on the undersurfaces of the knife holders to create spaced apart line contacts with the outer convex surface of a roller. The form of FIG. 11 distinguishes from FIG. in that the projections are shown as removable rods.

The several knife holders shown and described all have .in common the meansfor radially adjusting the knife blade for setting the blade in relation to a cooperative anvil roller.

The printing industry is making giantstrides in modernizing their equipment and procedures. Automation is the key word. Whenever manual labor in the production of printing materials can be eliminated, great savings are effected. In the past when books or multi-page booklets were printed the last step in such a process was to send the printed material to a bindery for trimming and binding. The device of the subject invention is for the purpose of enabling a printer to add a cutting device to his printing equipment to cut pages or groups of pages of the printed material so accurately that no additional trimming will be necessary and the cut sheets or pages may be bound into book or booklet form within the printing machinery. With the equipment of this invention a printer may cut his book or signature pages to any size regardless of the diameter of the rollers used. He merely divides the circumference of his cutting roller by the length of the page size desired and then affixes a cutting knife on each division line with the result that the printed and cut pages will be uniformly manufactured.

I am aware that numerous details of construction may be varied throughout a wide range without departing from the principles disclosed herein and I therefore do not propose limiting the patent granted hereon otherwise than as necessitated by the appended claims.

l claim:

l. A cutter for the printing industry comprising a pair of cooperative spaced apart parallel rollers, one of said cooperative rollers constituting a knife holding roller and the other of said cooperative rollers constituting an anvil roller, knife mounting members, means on the under surfaces of said knife mounting members arranged and constructed to provide for snug and stable engagement with the outer cylindrical surface of said knife holding roller, a knife extending axially of the cooperative rollers, means supporting the knife on the knife mounting members in a manner to project generally radially from said knife mounting members, and means securing said knife mounting members on the outer surface of the knife holding roller, said means on the under surfaces of said knife mounting members including arcuately spaced apart'projection means extending longitudinally and axially of the knife holding roller for arcuate spaced apart engagement with the outer cylindrical surface of the knife holding roller.

2. A device as set forth in claim I in which the under surface of said knife mounting members are provided with longitudinally extending arcuately spaced apart parallel concavely curved sockets, said arcuately spaced apart projection means comprises small diameter cylindrical rod members nesting within said spaced apart parallel concavely curved sockets on the underside of the knife mounting members, and said cylindrical rod members making arcuately spaced apart line contacts with said cylindrical surface of the knife holding roller.

3. A cutter for the printing industry comprising a pair of cooperative spaced apart parallel rollers, one of said cooperative-rollers constituting a knife holding roller and the other of said cooperative rollers constituting an anvil roller, generally U-shaped knife mounting members defining two spaced apart radially disposed wall legs, means on the under surfaces of said U-shaped knife mounting members arranged and constructed to provide for snug engagement with the outer cylindrical surface of said knife holding roller, a knife extending axially of the cooperative rollers, means supporting the knife on the inner wall of one of the spaced apart radially disposed wall legs of the knife mounting members in a manner to project generally radially from said knife mounting members, means securing saidknife mounting members on the outer surface of the knife holding roller, said means supporting the knife on the knife mounting members including a knife clamp block adapted to back up said knife, a headed bolt having a threaded shank disposed at generally right angles to said knife, means cooperating with said threaded shank to cause said knife clamp block to abut and hold said knife firmly against said inner wall of the one radially disposed wall leg against which the knife abuts, said means cooperating with said threaded shank comprising an internal threading of said knife clamp block and the engagement of said internally threaded clamp block by said threaded shank permitting extension or contraction of the overall length of the assembly of knife clamp block and the headed bolt with the threaded shank, whereby when the headed bolt is unscrewed from said clamp block the head of said bolt abuts against the other arcuatelyspaced apart wall leg of the knife mounting member whereby the reaction urges the knife clamp block against the'knife and securely holds said knife on the inside of the wall leg against which it abuts.

14 abuttingly engaging the outer surface of the knife holding roller, whereby adjustment of the set screws will cause minute radial adjustment of the knife.- 

1. A cutter for the printing industry comprising a pair of cooperative spaced apart parallel rollers, one of said cooperative rollers constituting a knife holding roller and the other of said cooperative rollers constituting an anvil roller, knife mounting members, means on the under surfaces of said knife mounting members arranged and constructed to provide for snug and stable engagement with the outer cylindrical surface of said knife holding roller, a knife extending axially of the cooperative rollers, means supporting the knife on the knife mounting members in a manner to project generally radially from said knife mounting members, and means securing said knife mounting members on the outer surface of the knife holdiNg roller, said means on the under surfaces of said knife mounting members including arcuately spaced apart projection means extending longitudinally and axially of the knife holding roller for arcuate spaced apart engagement with the outer cylindrical surface of the knife holding roller.
 2. A device as set forth in claim 1 in which the under surface of said knife mounting members are provided with longitudinally extending arcuately spaced apart parallel concavely curved sockets, said arcuately spaced apart projection means comprises small diameter cylindrical rod members nesting within said spaced apart parallel concavely curved sockets on the underside of the knife mounting members, and said cylindrical rod members making arcuately spaced apart line contacts with said cylindrical surface of the knife holding roller.
 3. A cutter for the printing industry comprising a pair of cooperative spaced apart parallel rollers, one of said cooperative rollers constituting a knife holding roller and the other of said cooperative rollers constituting an anvil roller, generally U-shaped knife mounting members defining two spaced apart radially disposed wall legs, means on the under surfaces of said U-shaped knife mounting members arranged and constructed to provide for snug engagement with the outer cylindrical surface of said knife holding roller, a knife extending axially of the cooperative rollers, means supporting the knife on the inner wall of one of the spaced apart radially disposed wall legs of the knife mounting members in a manner to project generally radially from said knife mounting members, means securing said knife mounting members on the outer surface of the knife holding roller, said means supporting the knife on the knife mounting members including a knife clamp block adapted to back up said knife, a headed bolt having a threaded shank disposed at generally right angles to said knife, means cooperating with said threaded shank to cause said knife clamp block to abut and hold said knife firmly against said inner wall of the one radially disposed wall leg against which the knife abuts, said means cooperating with said threaded shank comprising an internal threading of said knife clamp block and the engagement of said internally threaded clamp block by said threaded shank permitting extension or contraction of the overall length of the assembly of knife clamp block and the headed bolt with the threaded shank, whereby when the headed bolt is unscrewed from said clamp block the head of said bolt abuts against the other arcuately spaced apart wall leg of the knife mounting member whereby the reaction urges the knife clamp block against the knife and securely holds said knife on the inside of the wall leg against which it abuts.
 4. A cutter as set forth in claim 3 in which said means securing said knife mounting members on the outer surface of the knife holding roller includes set screws for threaded engagement in the U-shaped knife mounting member and extending in a radial direction for abuttingly engaging the outer surface of the knife holding roller, whereby adjustment of the set screws will cause minute radial adjustment of the knife. 